Indian student numbers falling

By Benjamin Preiss

THE number of Indian students coming to Australia to study has fallen dramatically in the past four years and the high dollar, stricter visa conditions and safety concerns are some of the reasons.

An Australian Council for Educational Research study found higher education visas for Indian students fell from 34,200 in 2007-08 to 9750 in 2011-12.

The high Australian dollar and strong competition from other countries had driven down the number of visas for Indian students, it says.

Safety concerns, the closure of some training providers and tough conditions for permanent residency contributed to the decline, it found.

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The study analysed three sets of previously released figures, including government immigration data. It also used figures from the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Canada who compete with Australia for international students.

Report author Daniel Edwards said Australia had been a leader in attracting international students for the past 20 years but other countries had become increasingly competitive.

''We found since the decline started in Australia all of our competitor countries have started to increase,'' he said.

The report said visa applications from India rose to 7716 in the past financial year, compared to 4026 the year before. But there had been a downturn in successful applications.

In the past financial year, only 50 per cent of student visa applications from India were successful, compared with 96 per cent in 2006-07.

Dr Edwards said the number of students from Malaysia and China had also declined since 2009 but these decreases were far smaller than Indian students.

He said increased scrutiny of student visa applications had a ''significant impact'' on the Indian student market.

International Education Association of Australia executive director Phil Honeywood said it had been a ''horrific'' year for the sector.

He said international students contributed more than $5 billion to the Victorian economy in 2009-10 but that fell to $4.4 billion in 2011-12. ''This report is a timely reminder at the end of a challenging year that we need greater clarity from all levels of government on a strategy to take the industry forward,'' he said.

Indian Federation of Victoria president Vasan Srinivasan said protests about student safety in 2009 had damaged Australia's reputation. ''It tainted Australia and Victoria as a racist state and country,'' he said.

But allowing students to work for up to five years in the area they had studied would help to revive Australia's reputation among Indian students, Mr Srinivasan said. Students could then help repay the debts their families had accumulated by sending them abroad to study. ''That will take the pressure off the parents.''

Federal Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said there had been a decline since 2008, the peak of commencements in Indian students. ''However, both visa grants and commencements have increased in the last 12 months,'' he said.